The Return of 2D?

[slyslayer3000]

Is this verified? Because if it is...it will be great. I love 2D than 3D.

http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=22456

[singerguy04]

If this is true JL is going to be one of my heros forever! It completely makes sence, so i can see this as being true, but i guess all we can really do is sit back and wait to see what happens.

[Karushifa]

I have hopes that this will be the case. One thing I really admire about John Lasseter is that he seems to revere animation first and foremost as an art form and second as a money-maker, while some animation studio execs seem to have it the other way around. I mean, just look at how he gushes in the intro to every single Ghibli movie that Disney released; same goes for his extremely warm pre-film discussions when the Miyazaki movies ran on TCM a few months ago. Not that I'm saying he's going to be the Second Coming of Walt (just to head off the "AAARRRGGHHH GNOMEO AND JULIET PIXAR SUCKS GRRRRRRRRR " crowd ), but it can't hurt to have someone like Lasseter in the position that he's in. All we can do is hope for the best.

[2099net]

From a pratical side of things, I can't see this happening. Disney sold all of the equipment. To return to handdrawn would mean buying all the equipment back again. Sure, Disney have done stupider things in the past but...

Secondly, Disney didn't spend what-ever-the-amount was (without looking it up was it around $7bn?) on Pixar to get them to work with 2D animation. It's just doesn't make sense. What-ever-the-amout was, it was one heck of a sum. They primarily bought Pixar's artistic and techincal expertise and, lest we overlook this, they also bought the Pixar name.

If they simply wanted to revive 2D animation with Lasseter, it would be a lot easier and cheaper to headhunt and tempt him and a few selected Pixar staff over with promises of money, creative freedom and shares.

[TheSequelOfDisney]

I would love to have 2D animation as in Animated Classics, back, but the chances are slim. Like what 2099net said, since they sold everything it would be a lot harder to get it all back. Wish that they could bring back 2D, I really miss it. I mean Chicken Little was okay, and the graphics looked pretty good, but why did they have to completely quit doing 2D animation as in Animated Classics? That darn Disney!


Yes! My 300th post! Yippe!

[Jules]

I don't understand. What did Disney sell off exactly when they shifted to CGI?

Looking on the bright side, even if there's no return to 2D animation, Disney's 3D animation department (which produced Chicken Little) should now be working with Pixar's 3D animation department, so a rise in quality is assured.

I wonder...the studios are going to be called "Disney Pixar Animation Studios". I wonder what the logo is gonna look like.

[magicalwands]

Looking on the bright side, even if there's no return to 2D animation, Disney's 3D animation department (which produced Chicken Little) should now be working with Pixar's 3D animation department, so a rise in quality is assured.

I wonder...the studios are going to be called "Disney Pixar Animation Studios". I wonder what the logo is gonna look like.

I don't think animators of Pixar and Disney will be working together on the same films. Both companies are creating seperate films. Only John and other executives will be overlooking on what Disney does.

Pixar will still keep its name and their movies will still be titled with "Walt Disney Pictures Presents, A Pixar Animation Studios Film"

[totallyminnie86]

I'm glad John Lasseter will at least be able to oversee what disney is doing. He is so talented and he's been around disney in some form or another all the way since tron right? He really knows what he's doing so hopefully he can shape them up.

[Lars Vermundsberget]

I don't understand. What did Disney sell off exactly when they shifted to CGI?

Perhaps I'm not being exact either, but Disney sold off their "actual equipment" to draw traditional animation - and we're not talking computers here... Dumping it all and buying it back after just a while would seem like really lousy long-term planning - unless it had turned into old junk that needed replacing anyway...

[castleinthesky]

Well I would hope this would be true (especially after the nightmarish Chicken Little), but I don't find it really plausible. But I could always see 2-d coming back.

I personally find Lassater to be one of the best animators living (after Miyazaki, Takahata, and Bluth of course ). Lassater loves animation. I hope he turns Walt Disney Animation around, either 3-d or 2-d. I would also like him to stop the DTV industry at Disney and push the release of the final Ghibli movies in the US.

[slyslayer3000]

I'm hoping for 2D to return. I really don't like CGI films such as Chicken Little and The Wild...they are both Disney's worst films.
Look what critics said about Chicken Little:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/chicken_little/
Look what critics said about The Wild:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_wild/

[Timon/Pumbaa fan]

As you probably know, I've slowly changed to a Pixar supporter to a Pixar hater(well not hate, but think their films are overrated, though I still appreaciate them on some levels).

Many people are saying, "BRING BACK 2D ANIMATION", BUT if people want hand-drawn animation SO much, why didn't they give "Treasure Planet", "Home on the Range" and to lesser(not by much though) extents, "Brother Bear" and "Lilo and Stitch", chances and dissmiss them because they looked "so unlike Disney".

In fact, I really blame audiences for refusing to warm up to future hand drawn films and gullibly paying to see garbage like "Shrek 2" and "Finding Nemo" saying they're much better than anything Disney has done because "tehy gott pertty Coputor animatoin".

Anyway, will hand-drawn animation come back? Of coure it will, someday. But right now, audiences obviously proven with their money they like CGI better than hand-drawn animation, and that's what they're going to get! And since Pixar has only done 6(soon to be 7) CG films, I can't imagine them "saving 2D animation".

Oh and castleinthesky, I find it so funny, you want 2-D animation to come back and then saying you want Disney to close the DTV industries. After all, those DTV industries are still making 2-D animation. Isn't that what everyone wants, Disney to bring back 2D animation?

[2099net]

I don't understand. What did Disney sell off exactly when they shifted to CGI?

Perhaps I'm not being exact either, but Disney sold off their "actual equipment" to draw traditional animation - and we're not talking computers here... Dumping it all and buying it back after just a while would seem like really lousy long-term planning - unless it had turned into old junk that needed replacing anyway...

They sold off all their drawing boards. They're special desks at an angle with a centre piece which can roate round. (look at any decent 2 disc handdrawn Disney DVD and you'll see what these are). They've also sold off a lot of the equipment needed for proofing animation or inking - I'm not sure of the names but the back-lit desks etc.

More worringly, they no longer have CAPS and all the associated computerised equipment needed for capturing, colouring and "filming" the animation - I believe one was literally junked, and the other was sent over to DisneyToon Studios in Australia (which is, of course, shutting down itself).

I can't see Disney doing handdrawn animation in-house again. Several of the Disney animators bought equipment off Disney cheap and set up in business on their own, but I understand a lot of these have gone under, as the only work they could be comissioned for was advertising (and that's following the CGI trend too).

Another question which needs asking is... if you were a former Disney animator who had finally accepted your job junking by Disney, would YOU be prepeared to go back, knowing you could be out on your arse in an instant once more? Just because there's all these animators, it doesn't mean they want to go back to a company which basically tossed them aside (and I would expect they still follow the news, so they know Disney has yet to prove a commitment to a theoretical change of direction - see DisneyToon Australia; no matter what you think of the sequels, these were the only 2D artists doing animation in-house, and its still being closed down)

I think the animation in Enchanted is being done out-of-house by former Disney animators.

[castleinthesky]

I'm hoping for 2D to return. I really don't like CGI films such as Chicken Little and The Wild...they are both Disney's worst films.
Look what critics said about Chicken Little:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/chicken_little/
Look what critics said about The Wild:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_wild/

The Wild is not made by Disney, just distributed by Disney.

[slyslayer3000]

I'm hoping for 2D to return. I really don't like CGI films such as Chicken Little and The Wild...they are both Disney's worst films.
Look what critics said about Chicken Little:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/chicken_little/
Look what critics said about The Wild:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_wild/

The Wild is not made by Disney, just distributed by Disney.

Even so, The Wild still holds the Disney title. Critics also consider it as a Disney film. The Wild official site is even found at www.disney.com. Yeah, Disney distributed this film but I didn't literally mean that it was made by Disney. I only said it's a Disney film, because it was presented by Walt Disney Pictures.

[Harbinger]

AICN posts alot of rumors so I can't tell if it's true. But I have my fingers crossed hoping so!

[IggieKuzco]

I wonder...the studios are going to be called "Disney Pixar Animation Studios". I wonder what the logo is gonna look like.

i suggest then taking a look at the odd versions of the Buena Vista logo at the beginings of Chicken Little and The Wild. it seems pretty clear the direction they're heading.

as for 2d studios not being availabe anymore, maybe they'll give a new 2d film a shot at one of the pre/midquel/DTV studios wherever they may be. and if that goes well buy the studios back.

but even if disney sticks with CGI, they had better 2D The Search for Mickey Mouse (assuming that it's still in development) or i will break off each of my toes with my 16.99$ stainless steel mickey mouse bottle opener.

[littlefuzzy]

Many people are saying, "BRING BACK 2D ANIMATION", BUT if people want hand-drawn animation SO much, why didn't they give "Treasure Planet", "Home on the Range" and to lesser(not by much though) extents, "Brother Bear" and "Lilo and Stitch" and dissmiss them because they looked "so unlike Disney".

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Oh and castleinthesky, I find it so funny, you want 2-D animation to come back and then saying you want Disney to close the DTV industries. After all, those DTV industries are still making 2-D animation. Isn't that what everyone wants, Disney to bring back 2D animation?

Your first part is kind of hard to follow, but the reason people didn't like Treasure Planet and Home on the Range is because they were poor films in general: bad stories, characters, etc.

The Pixar Films had loveable characters, great stories, and good music. They would have been well-loved films even if they were traditional animation or stop-motion.

----------------------

There is a huge difference between big-budget feature films using 2-D animation, and a division that grinds out cheap sequels and other DTV junk...

[castleinthesky]

Even so, The Wild still holds the Disney title. Critics also consider it as a Disney film. The Wild official site is even found at www.disney.com. Yeah, Disney distributed this film but I didn't literally mean that it was made by Disney. I only said it's a Disney film, because it was presented by Walt Disney Pictures.

Still dosn't qualify it as a Disney movie. Just because it has the Disney title dosn't prove anything. Spirited Away has the Disney title, but it is not Disney, while The Nightmare Before Christmas didn't have the Disney title but is Disney.

Just because you have a spot on the Disney site dosn't mean that it's a Disney film. All the Ghibli films, many Pokemon films, and Valiant have a spot on the site, yet none of them are Disney films.

[Timon/Pumbaa fan]

Your first part is kind of hard to follow, but the reason people didn't like Treasure Planet and Home on the Range is because they were poor films in general: bad stories, characters, etc.

The Pixar Films had loveable characters, great stories, and good music. They would have been well-loved films even if they were traditional animation or stop-motion.

Well, I for one, appreaciates Disney for actually trying something new and different then what they've done in the past.

Treasure Planet was a wonderful and unique adaptation of a classic novel, making it both original and faithful to the novel, something many live-action movies fail at!

Home on the Range was an extremely fun film with phycidellic animation and catchy songs(in fact it was more like a "Broadway musical" than any Disney film after Mulan, isn't that what everyone wants?) There were hardly and crude jokes as people seem to say it has.

Pixar's films haven't been original. Finding Nemo should've just been renamed to "Pixar's Greatest Hits" as our beloved 2099net puts it, because that's all it really is. The only exception has been "The Incredibles"(and even that film wasn't original story, it was just a combination of old comics and movies). Even Cars looks to troublesome. In fact, looking at the trailers again, I have concerns to how much story they could really put into an hour and a half long movie.

Unfortunately, I really believe if Finding Nemo and The Incredibles were hand-drawn, critics and audiences wouldn't have loved them as they are loved today. Heck, I'd expect them to flop.

There is a huge difference between big-budget feature films using 2-D animation, and a division that grinds out cheap sequels and other DTV junk...

But wasn't there HUGE anticipation for "Bambi 2"? A lot of people here seem to admit, their films are getting better, plus they also say they want 2D animation to live, yet they want to close all DTV studios?

I think we should be thankful for what we have, before it has been taken away. That's how we LOST hand-drawn animation.